A Hmong story in which Kab Yeeb (Guanyin) is part of the name of a male character, possibly reflecting the derivation of the Chinese Godess of Mercy Guanyin from the male bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, and two Hmong stories which may be... more
A Hmong story in which Kab Yeeb (Guanyin) is part of the name of a male character, possibly reflecting the derivation of the Chinese Godess of Mercy Guanyin from the male bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, and two Hmong stories which may be Hmong retellings of the exploits of the Monkey king in Journey to the West or in Chinese folklore, pose complex questions about what makes a myth.
Chinese American Literature without Borders bridges comparative literature and American studies by using an intercultural and bilingual approach to Chinese American literature. It looks both ways at the United States and China to reveal... more
Chinese American Literature without Borders bridges comparative literature and American studies by using an intercultural and bilingual approach to Chinese American literature. It looks both ways at the United States and China to reveal the writers' multiple geopolitical engagements. Part I presents alternative forms of masculinity. It examines gender refashioning in light of the Chinese dyadic ideal of wen-wu (literary arts and martial arts), while redefining both in the process. Part II presents alternative forms of autobiography, theory, metafiction, and translation. It puts in relief the formal experiments of the writers, who interweave hybrid poetics with two-pronged critiques. The writers examined provide a reflexive lens through which transpacific audiences are beckoned to view the "other" country and to look homeward without blinders. http://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9781137453532
The figure of the Monkey King shifts from a trickster, a rebel, and a demon to a revolutionary and, later, postsocialist hero. Monkey King has a major impact on the formation of Chinese identity across borders.
This article examines the way Patricia Chao and Gerald Vizenor have used the narrative structure and characters of the Chinese classic early novel _Journey to the West_ in their American novels. Vizenor sees the Monkey King character (Sun... more
This article examines the way Patricia Chao and Gerald Vizenor have used the narrative structure and characters of the Chinese classic early novel _Journey to the West_ in their American novels. Vizenor sees the Monkey King character (Sun Wukong) as a Chinese trickster figure, and his narrator Griever uses Monkey as a model for his own attempts to liberate the Chinese from neo-colonialism. Conversely, Chao uses the Monkey King character much more negatively to critique the patriarchalism of her Chinese American childhood. Both authors deliberately make references to the major characters of the novel and to its journey motif.
